Institution

Current Position

Highest Degree

Online Media

The research being conducted in my laboratory examines motivated cognition in the context of close relationships. Specifically, my research examines how individuals in romantic relationships interpret and construct reality in ways that protect them from potential threats to commitment, such as the perception of a partner's faults, the risks inherent in depending on another, and the potential of rejection.

To understand these processes, my research examines four specific issues: (1) the existence and consequences of positive illusions in romantic relationships; (2) the structure of thoughts and mental representations that dispel doubt and foster relationship resilience; (3) how personal feelings of self-esteem influence the capacity to sustain satisfying close relationships; and (4) how the activation of belongingness needs, and consequent sensitivities to rejection, influence how people interpret and then respond to threatening events in their relationships.